Depression and attributions for problems and solutions in college students

50 adult clients at college counseling centers completed scales measuring depression, attributions for their primary problem and its expected improvement, and locus of control. Subjects who were more depressed made relatively internal and stable attributions for their primary problems, were less likely to believe they would improve, and expressed more belief in the importance of chance and powerful others. As a group, subjects tended to view their improvement as more internal and controllable than the cause of their problems. The results suggest that knowledge of clients' attributions for their problems could prove relevant to the treatment of depression.